Plantar Fasciitis and Plantar Fasciosis

Plantar Fasciitis and Plantar Fasciosis are two commonly diagnosed foot issues in people who have foot and heel pain. Plantar fasciitis means inflammation of the fascia of the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciosis means degeneration of the fascia of the bottom of the foot. Fascia is a connective tissue that permeates the entire body including muscles, bones, nerves, and organs and helps provide structure and support to the tissues of the body. The plantar fascia is the connective tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot from the heel to the toes. The plantar fascia or plantar aponeurosis is a thick and strong band of connective tissue that helps support the arch of the foot both allowing normal pronation and supporting normal supination during gait and other movements. 

When the foot is pointed straight ahead and moving as designed, the plantar fascia will be pain free and healthy. However, when the foot isn't aligned correctly and/or the foot isn't moving optimally, these dysfunctional movement patterns can create stress, pain, and damage to the plantar fascia. 

When evaluating the cause of plantar fascia pain and damage, we need to look at the foot to see if it is turned out, pronated, supinated, and/or if the toes show any disfunction such as bunions or hammer toes  which can all create problems for the plantar fascia.

​Besides looking at the foot, we also need to look at the rest of the leg to see if there are imbalances up the chain that could be contributing to the problem. Things like internal or external femur rotation, valgus or varus knee positioning, knee flexion or hyperextension or any other misalignment of the leg. 

But our search for the cause of the problem doesn't stop there. We also need to continue looking up the body at the hips and pelvis, spine and torso, scapular and shoulders, and even what the arms and head are doing. Imbalances in any of these areas, on either side of the body, can contibute to the plantar fascia problems and pain. 

As a posture alignment therapist, I understand that the body is a unit and everything is connected. Pain in one area of the body can be caused by imbalances and dysfunctions on a completely different part or side of the body. My evaluation always starts by looking at a clients standing posture to see how their bones and joints align vertically because this gives us a great understanding of where the problem might be coming from. I then will often take the client through several functional tests to look at how their body moves and stabilizes and this gives us more information about what the underlying cause of the problem is. Watching gait, or how a person walks, is another important tool I might use to help in the evaluation.

​After the evaluation, I will have a good idea about what is causing the problem and how we can fix it. Then the personalized posture alignment therapy starts and we go through exercises specific to the clients posture, function and movement. Clients will almost always feel better right away and be able to see and feel the positive changes in posture and function after just a couple exercises. 

If you'd like to learn what is causing your plantar fasciitis or plantar fasciosis contact me today for a free 30-minute posture evaluation on Zoom.